Weather holds off for Tour de Tuscaloosa

Dark clouds, rumbling thunder and promises of rain did nothing to stop the growing crowds as they gathered Saturday to watch the fifth annual Tour de Tuscaloosa presented by VeloCity Pro Cycle.

By Samantha JonesSpecial to The Tuscaloosa News

TUSCALOOSA| Dark clouds, rumbling thunder and promises of rain did nothing to stop the growing crowds as they gathered Saturday to watch the fifth annual Tour de Tuscaloosa presented by VeloCity Pro Cycle. Bringing cheers and chants for their favorite cyclists, spectators were greeted with loud music, a performance by the Street Jam Kidz and hospitality from bars and restaurants on Temerson Square.Most of the cyclists are from out of town, but local riders compete, too. Warren St. John, author of Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Road Trip Into the Heart of Fan Mania, made his second appearance, placing seventh in the Men’s Category 4 race.“It’s a very high-paced fun race to watch with an up-beat, energized and charged atmosphere. We draw big crowds from all over. I would describe it like tailgating except a bike race,” Tour de Tuscaloosa Race Director Gina Simpson said. “Every year, we’ve grown. For this year, we were able to step it up and offer a larger price purse, which in turn brings in more racers. (The race) easily brings in over 1,800 people to Tuscaloosa a year.”For the fourth consecutive year, the Tour de Tuscaloosa was chosen to be a part of the Lance Armstrong Junior Cycling Series. The approximately 1.2-mile course has eight 90-degree turns with the start/finish line located at the intersection of 4th Street and 23rd Avenue. “If you’ve never been out to the race, you really need to come out and watch it next year. You can’t fathom how quickly the bikers go and how shoulder-to-shoulder they are,” Simpson said. “This year’s race has been great. It’s larger than last year, which is what we hoped for, despite the weather. We only had a couple showers so everyone still came out and raced. It’s been widely successful. Everyone’s super excited to be out here … So it’s overall been a wonderful day.”Despite the forecast, the sun managed to shine by race time and for the majority of the afternoon.Beginning at noon, the Tour de Tuscaloosa featured races for several different ages, ranging from Juniors 10-14 and 15-18, Masters 35+ to 45+ as well as separate races for women and men categories 1-4. Rounding out the Tour de Tuscaloosa for the day were the professional races. Women’s Elite Cat 1/2/3 began at 5:45 p.m., while the Men’s Pro Cat. 1/2 finished the race day at 6:45 p.m.“It’s a great race. It has that stiff little climb in it which pretty much you’re going to put all your effort into and on the backside you’ll recover. So for a person like me, climbing is what I like to do and what I’m better at so this race is good for me,” said Debbie Milne of Absolute Racing. “So it’s a great course, mostly because of the climb.” Milne took first place overall in the Women’s Elite, while Cinthia Lehner with Team Headstrong placed second and Mary Meyhew for Krystal/Warp9Bikes.com finished third. “It’s certainly fun to win because I have a lot of respect for the gals out there I’m competing against. I ride every race as hard as I can and that’s always my approach and usually it works pretty well,” Milne said.First place and second place in the Men’s Pro went to Team Type I Development with Joseph Rosskopf taking first and Ty Magner second. A.J. Meyer for Neocycle/Greenscape placed third. Included in the winners was Tuscaloosa resident Charlie Snead, racing for VeloCity Pro Cycle, who placed fifth overall in Juniors 15-16. Other local cyclists who placed in the top 20 of their categories were Jacob Black (18 in Men’s Cat 4) and Daniel Burton (15 in Men’s Cat 3) as well as VeloCity Pro Cycle racers Todd Hollingsworth (12 in Men’s Cat 4) and Beth Hollingsworth (15 in Women’s Elite Cat. 1/2/3). The Tour de Tuscaloosa will continue today with the Lake Lurleen Road Race, which will serve as the Alabama State Championship road race. It will begin at 8:30 a.m.